Slow Pacing
by Tandy
Summary: Emma Swan lives her life at two speeds. Slow and super slow.


Unbeta'd, read at your own risk.

Spoilerish only about an upcoming villain.

Rating: T

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><p>The thought, a ridiculous silly thought, had taken root one afternoon as Emma waited in line to purchase diapers for her little brother. She'd been gazing at the magazine rack without much interest until splash of white caught her eye. She reached for the magazine instinctively, paging through it casually until it was her turn at the register. The magazine was left in its rack, but the images and the longing it caused followed her out.<p>

After that everything reminded her of it, of that silly thought, white frosting, white fabric, and white flowers, even china and silverware, champagne. The list was never ending, she could literally think of anything and somehow it all connected to weddings, to marriage. To being married to him.

She had never been _that_ girl. As a pragmatist Emma had never seen the appeal of spending huge amounts of money for a dress she'd only wear once at a party she would have to throw herself. But now she couldn't stop thinking about it. Color schemes, venues, music, guest sitting, and the dresses, god, there were so many dresses! Yes, she'd perused more wedding magazines, hungry for more details; more dresses, imagining his reaction in this dress or that dress.

Emma had told no one of this little thought, keeping it tight in her heart, feeling it grow day by day. It had started out a humble thought and matured into a full fledged vision. She'd be wrapped in pearly white, her parents walking her down the aisle, Henry at the altar with him, both beaming at her, the whole town present.

And wasn't that just the most ridiculous thing ever?

Thoughts like these never occurred to her when she was seventeen and in love with Neal. She hadn't been a romantic, and even if she had been, the wedding she kept planning in her head would not have been a possibility back then. With Walsh she hadn't gotten past the actual question. Will you marry me? She'd been undecided up until the point she'd drank the memory potion. A resounding no had been the answer after she gained back her memories.

He hadn't asked her yet.

Not that she wanted him to. Not that she thought he would. He had the most infuriating and endearing habit of giving her all the power. He wouldn't ask her. Again, not that she wanted him to. They've only been what could be loosely described as dating amidst running from monsters, fighting villains and navigating the potholes of being Captain Hook and the product of true love in a town populated by fairy tale characters for less than a year. Eight months to be exact.

It was too fast. Emma Swan did not do fast.

Emma walked faster, trying to outrun the thoughts that whispered that it wasn't too fast, that she knew with terrifying certainty exactly what she wanted her relationship with him to become. She groaned as she passed the clothing store, the one with the perpetual wedding dress at the window. Really?

The door jingled when she entered Granny's alerting the patrons of her presence. Two heads looked up, smiled at her from what they were doing and beckoned to her. Emma joined them, softly laying her hand on top of Henry's head for a second instead of kissing him because he was in that awkward stage when motherly affection embarrassed him.

"Teaching my child bad habits?" Emma asked when she noticed the game of dice on the scarred table. She took a seat next to Henry.

"Life skills, love," he explained with that damnable adorable grin of his. He shared a conspiratorial look with Henry. The shared camaraderie between her son and (her boyfriend? lover? Partner?)_ him_ warmed her from the inside out.

_Him_, she thought. Killian Jones, confidant, friend, lover, boyfriend, partner, ally, former villain, Captain Hook all wrapped into one, overwhelming her with awe that she could barely keep contained. He had become so much in such a short time, to her, to Henry. No word could fully encompass what he was, what he meant to her.

She leaned over the surface of the table, catching him off guard with a quick peck to his lips. Emma surprised herself too, she wasn't much for gratuitous displays of affection, much less in front of her fidgeting son. He quirked an eyebrow at her, puzzled, but also rewarded her with a smile.

"Is something on your mind, Swan?"

"Nope." She told him, hiding her face with the menu.

He said nothing, only giving her a look that invited her confidence. If there was one thing he'd learned during their relationship it was to give her time. He would be patient, she knew, unti she was ready to share her thoughts with him. Emma wasn't ready yet.

"I'm loath to deprive you of my presence, love, but I've made previous plans with the Knave. Mayhaps, you'd care to be more punctual next time." He winked at her and slapped Henry on the shoulder in that way med did to show affection.

She watched him walk way, all rangy walking wet dream that he was, until he was out the door and out of sight.

"You have it just as bad as my other mom."

Emma turned to her son with a silly grin on her face. Henry was looking at her with a soft smile. She was going to sass him about him looking at Lily just the same way, but instead her lips formed other words. "I want to marry him."

Henry's smile widened. "About time, Mom."

"Really? You'd be ok with it?"

"_Mom_, he makes you smile." It was said with such authority, as if that would settle the matter.

"He loves you. And you love him."

"I do."

It was the first time she had admitted it out loud. There was a crushing in her chest that told her she had just jinxed herself, that the other shoe was going to drop soon. She was being too greedy. She had her parents, her son. It should be enough. _It_ was enough. For a little lost girl looking for home, this was her happy ending. Emma still wanted more but she feared that if she tried to reach for more, what she already had in hand would slip through her fingers.

"Then marry him." Henry told her, and then continued in a softer voice. "He makes you happy and that's enough for me, but I wouldn't mind having him around more often either."

Emma's heart broke at Henry's failed attempt at nonchalance. Henry had two mothers, and two grandfathers, and had only had one father for a brief period. There was no doubt that he was loved, but between David being a new father, Gold being a newlywed with a pregnant wife, and Robin also being occupied with his young son, Henry was obviously missing some paternal influence in his life.

"Killian is good to you?" Emma asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah. He's great. He's Captain Hook after all. The things he's seen and done. Once I'm old enough he's promise to-" then he closed his mouth abruptly, realizing that he was about to reveal one of their planned adventures, one that she wouldn't be especially thrilled to hear. "Anyway, he has the best stories about Neal-Dad."

"Really? And what does he tell you?" No doubt, bloody, thieving, rampaging stories.

"Nothing bad," Henry said, quickly defending him. "Different from what you or Grandpa tell me. If he's to be believed my dad was the bravest, smartest, strongest lost boy that ever was. Killian doesn't lie."

"No, kid, he doesn't." Emma wished she stories to tell her son about Neal that didn't involved heartbreak or homelessness. "Is it weird, that he knew your Dad as a boy and now him and I are... together?"

"It would be if we were normal. But we're not." He gave that saucy response and popped a French fry into his mouth. She could see Neal in his face, in his gestures sometimes, Regina's mannerisms as well. Now at this very moment his expression was a twin to Killian's snarky one, half-bored, half full of himself. It broke her heart and mended it at the same time to see it, to see Hook's stamp on her son.

"It makes him sad, I think, when he tells me about my dad. Not when I ask. It's mainly when it's just the two of us, when he's teaching me about sailing, or giving me advice about girls, or he's walking me to school. He get's real quiet, with a strange look in his eyes. That's when he starts talking about Ne-Dad. I don't mind it, but he doesn't have to do that, you know? It's like he feels that he's stealing these moments away from my dad, and he's not quite filling Dad's shoes." Henry blushed, looked down.

"You should talk to him about it."

"_Mom_," he said looking at her as if she had just kissed him in front of his whole class. "I don't want him to think that I don't like hearing his stories, I just wish he didn't look so apologetic when he told them to me."

Henry loved him Emma realized. Loved him and idolized him and felt for him. They'd be a family, the three of them. Oh, and she could picture it, their home, their lives. A table with three place settings. A chore list with three names. A fridge stocked for three individuals. A home that would no longer be empty when Henry was with Regina. It sounded so good, so perfect.

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><p>The shoe that Emma feared dropped soon after. Maleficent was back and causing havoc in the town. Surprisingly it didn't curb the little seed that had been growing ever since she'd spotted that cursed magazine. She'd picked the dress, and who was she kidding, the bridesmaid's as well. She was still trying to work out the logistics of having her mother walk her down the aisle and also be her maid of honor. Roland would be ring-bearer of course. Maybe once Maleficent was defeated they could take the short hiatus between villains to get married. Could she plan a wedding that fast?<p>

"Whoa!" she exclaimed, barely dodging the sharp claws of Maleficent's minion and falling ungracefully into the forest floor. Her father dealt with her attacker with a strong blow of his sword.

"Get it together, sweetheart," David said using his paternal voice. "Maybe it would help if you'd stop staring at Hook's butt."

"But it's such a fine one, Dad."

"Ugh." Emma laughed, loving how easily she was able to tease her dad.

A second later her heart dropped to her stomach. "Killian!" She shouted in warning as Diablo aimed his sharp beak at his back while Killian was occupied with dispatching another crony.

She ran to him but a snowy white arrow beat her to it, lodging itself in the crow's eye. The bird dropped at her feet just as she reached him. Emma took a grateful breath, her eyes locked on Killian as he saluted her mother in the bushes with his hook. The man actually winked at her before turning his sight on the enemy again, fighting with sword and hook.

He was absolutely stunning, beautiful and dangerous and graceful and all hers. Well, almost all hers. Her fear of losing him turned into determination. He was a part of her now; a part of her family and nothing would tear him away. Emma would fight like hell to keep him, to keep her happy ending. There was no jinx, only her fear kept her from basking in all that his eyes promised.

She felt her magic brimming, drew it out, expelled with the force of her feelings for him. They were winning, she thought, only a few left and then she and Regina would take down Maleficent. They would win, Emma was sure, and everyone would be safe and sound. They would beat this villain and any that come after.

"Mary me!" she shouted at him, already entangled with another of Maleficent's monsters.

"What?" He yelled over the noise of the battle, of flying arrows, the magic in the air, and the sound of striking metal.

"Will you marry me?" She repeated, grunting with the effort of dispatching her foe.

"It's about bloody time, Swan!" He spared her only a glance, intent of his quarry.

"Would you two buffoons leave the proposals for after we've defeated this bitch?" Regina yelled at them, her magic angry and pulsating.

"Don't mind her love; she's just angry because we're going to beat her and Robin to the altar."

"I love you," she told him, trying her best not to laugh at Regina's expression.

"I know," he responded full of cockiness, never breaking stride in his fighting.

In the end it took Regina and Emma's combined powers to take Maleficent out. After it was done, and there was nothing but a dragon carcass to clean up, she ran to Killian, just as Regina ran to Robin and David to Mary Margaret. She jumped on him, wrapping her legs around him, kissing him soundly on the lips as his hand wrapped around her thigh, his hook and forearm under her butt to support her weight.

"Watch the hook, _hook,"_ David said half joking, half with paternal disapproval.

Killian chuckled, "Not to worry, Dave, we've just become betrothed." Emma unwound her legs from around him, sliding down his body, only to have him haul her close to him, a possessive arm around her.

Her mother let out an impressive shriek, and her dad couldn't hide his grin. Both of them enveloped her in one huge bear hug, and then Killian was in the mash as well having been pulled in by her mom. Their eyes locked, and there were no words needed to express what the other was feeling. They'd found a home, a family.

"I am going to gag," Regina said with her usual disdain. "Congratulations Ms. Swan. Now, can this love-fest be finished so that I may reunite with my children?" Regina walked away with a huff, Robin following her after shooting them an apologetic smile. Her parents left them as well, sensing the newly engaged couple needed sometime alone.

"Took you long enough, love."

"It's only been eight months."

"An eternity, Swan. And you must remember I've been courting you for far longer than that."

Emma shook her head, leaned in for a soft kiss. "I've been planning our wedding for at least two months," she confessed.

"Is that what's been bothering you?" He laughed at her, the corner of his eyes crinkling. "Emma, my love, you're improving. Only two months-"

She smacked him playfully on his chest. "Hey! So, we're getting a late start on our happily ever after. Better late than never, right?"

"My happy ending began when I met you, Emma."

She felt the goofy smile invade her face. Stupid, sweet, romantic, damn pirate that made her feel all types of wonderful. "Come on," she said before she melted into a puddle of feels at his feet. "Let's go tell Henry."

Uncertainty made the happiness in his smile fade. He scratched the back of his ear, his chin lowering slightly. "How do you think the lad will take it?"

"He'll be thrilled I'm sure, hopefully it'll be enough to draw him out of that awful mood he's in because we left him with Roland under Belle's care."

"Swan-"

"He gave us his blessing a while back. You don't have to worry about him, he loves you already." She assured him.

At that, her pirate straightened, and looking pleased with himself he started walking out of the forest. "I am rather dashing, and brave with an impeccable sense of style. Certainly I'm a man a boy would be proud to have as a father. Much better than that wanker with his bow and arrows and boring wardrobe…"

Emma rolled her eyes as her future husband kept up his litany of self-love. Her eyes widened, _husband. _That was it, that was the word that encompassed everything he was and everything he would be to her. "Husband," she tried it out loud, testing the word, feeling it roll in her tongue, in her heart. "My husband."

Noticing that she'd fallen behind slightly he turned around just in time to see her mouthing his new moniker.

His face shuttered with emotion, he swallowed hard. "This bloody wedding that you've planned for two months, how quickly can we have it?"

"I'll ask mom for her help, Maybe in a couple of months."

"Sooner," was all he said as he walked back to Emma. He buried his fingers in her hair to pull her in for a deep hard kiss. "I find myself inpatient to call you Wife."

Husband and Wife. That's what they would be. That's the bond they would forge. Forever. She smiled at him, a wobbly smile that threatened tears. "A month. Fairy tale weddings take time, and I want it, the puffy dress and the stupid dance. Everything."

He nodded solemnly. "Aye, whatever you wish, my love."

The battle with her tears was lost, and she buried her face against his neck, holding on tightly. _Husband, my husband. _She couldn't wait either. "Three weeks tops," she whispered against his throat. Less if she could manage it.

Who knew? Emma Swan did indeed do fast.

The End.

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><p>Feedback would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!<p> 


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